Preview: The Four Seasons at Houston Ballet

When former principal dancer Amy Fote was approached by Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch to return to the stage and dance the role of the widow in “Winter,” she said she had to think about it for a while. moment.

“I knew how important it was to do what we do on stage and you have to do it well,” says the woman who retired in 2012, leaving there to dance. The Merry Widow in 2013.

“I knew I would have to go to class,” she says of the offer to return to the Four Seasons. “And we are perfectionist artists. For me, that was the first step, making sure I found the time and discipline to get started and still be a ballet master, because that’s a job in itself . ” she says. “Then I put on some spiked shoes. So I took one step at a time. I had very few shoes left from my dancing days. I wore special orders. They had my name on the bottom .And everything was exactly as I needed it for my feet at that time, I think they expanded,” she says with a laugh.

In the mixed rehearsal program Four Seasons with a world premiere, Stanton Welch’s The four Seasons offers something special: the return of Houston Ballet’s ballet master, Fote. The last time Fote was here The four Seasons, she was “Summer”. As Summer she represented a young woman and as Winter she would embody the wisdom gained over her years. All to Vivaldi’s score.

Other pieces on the program include that of George Balanchine Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux as well as Disha Zhang’s experience with aging flow set to the composition of Zeng Xiaogang. The last part of the program is The whirlwind toura world premiere by Dwight Rhoden.

Fote’s involvement in The four Seasons This time, she actually started with a photoshoot, she says. “You have to portray four different women. You need someone who looks a little more mature because Winter’s role is actually a widow. And she’s someone who’s lived life and she been with her partner all this time and she raised kids and she’s at a different stage I think it was to have diversity It started like that.

As for the dance itself, she says she had a hard time committing to it. In 2016, his father stayed in the hospital for weeks when Fote learned his white blood cell count was off. Instead of leaving immediately to see him, she taught the next morning and, on her way to the airport, was told that he had died. Years later, it was part of her decision to take the stage in 2024 as Widow. “I just thought about it, I always prioritized ballet with certain things. It seemed to me that with the subject of winter it was a kind of therapy. Dance.”

“It was wonderful to get into the studio with the dancers,” Fote says. “They’ve been so supportive of me. As a ballet master. It’s us saying ‘Oh, you need to get this out. Maybe you could think of it for your imagination. Your arm if it moves like it would improve your Now They’re Watching Us At the same time, Stanton says first and foremost it’s not a ballet about dance, it’s about telling a story, that of a woman through four different artists who. dance each season.

“I feel like a whirlwind. Some things feel familiar, but my feet need such a quick contraction and they need really fast footwork for winter and I keep trying to push myself every day.” “It’s been kind of a blessing to try again after being away for a little over 10 years.”

Her partner is fellow ballet master Ian Casaday with whom she danced Summer in 2007.

As a ballet master, she says she enjoys working with dancers and helping them make choices that appeal to the audience. Some dancers have a natural talent for performing on stage, she said. “Sometimes it’s being comfortable on stage being still. I think sometimes with some of our more mature artists you can see the acting, it’s almost like the words are visible, their movement is so clear.”

Fote is surprised that the ballet has not been performed for so many years. Set in the early 1900s, it begins with a first love and heartbreak in the spring, develops into an affair in the summer, then in the fall the couple have children and, as empty nesters, they look at each other with the feeling of falling apart. It ends with a beautiful pas de deux in which the woman recommits to marriage and finally in winter when she finds herself alone after the death of her husband.

“It’s really quite a special story with iconic and charming music,” Fote says. “You kind of feel like you’re leaning in and experiencing each of these things with the woman. It’s dancing.”

Performances are scheduled for June 6-16 at 7:30 p.m. on June 6, 8, 14 and 15 and at 2 p.m. on June 9 and 16 at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. For more information, call 713-227-2787 or visit houstonballet.org.
$25 to $215.